Beaumont-sur-Vesle

Beaumont-sur-Vesle is the second-smallest of all 17 Grand Crus in Champagne, behind only Puisieulx in size. The vineyards lie on the southwestern continuation of Verzy's classified slope, but the village itself sits across the A4 motorway from the actual Montagne, on flat ground near the Vesle river. Pinot Noir overwhelmingly dominates the plantings on the same cool, north-facing exposure that defines the eastern face of the hill. The Grand Cru status dates to the 1911 Échelle des Crus, and the village's inclusion has always been something of a quirk, given that the parcels themselves trail off from a more famous neighbour. Beaumont has no famous houses or grower estates of its own, and most of its fruit goes into the blends of major Reims maisons rather than into bottlings under its own name.